Step Into the Light

My Studio Lighting Set Up- Very Complex

The foundation to creating sellable reproductions of your art and having that continued income source is the high resolution photo of the artwork.  I can't stress enough that you need to get a good picture or scan of your artwork before you ever put it on display or apply the sealing varnish coat.  Once the original is sold, it is all over.


I just recently purchased an electrical outlet remote so that I can turn the studio lighting on and off as I walk in and out of the studio. I think we purchased that at Home Depot but here is a link for the same thing on Amazon. (Electrical outlet remote control)

There are a number of good YouTube videos about taking photos of your artwork and these folks know a great deal more about the functioning of their cameras than I do.  We use our Canon EOS T2i  camera on a tripod to take photos of my paintings.  We photograph them indoors using equally spaced studio lights (Shown above in the first picture and are under $60 on Amazon) to reduce the chance of glare and shadows.  I have the lights attached in the both corners up near the ceiling of the far wall in my studio.   These studio lights also come in very handy when I am taking pictures of products for my Etsy Shop and also provide a nice bright light for me to paint with.  They have really become a great studio tool.


When I am take pictures of my smaller merchandise, I use a large sheet of foam core art board that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. (don't forget they have a 40% off coupon that you can use for every trip) I scored it down the center so it fold up and stores nicely when I'm not using it.  I use the camera on my iPhone X for these smaller product photos and then I pull them into the Photoshop Express app on my phone to crop, adjust lighting to make the white of the background really bright and add a watermark.   For the canvas art, we place the canvas on the white display grid you see here that is attached to the opposite wall of the studio.  My husband takes several shots of the artwork using different shutter speeds.  I pick the photo that has the highest resolution usually to be my original photo.  I hope that gives you some ideas for your own creative space.  Check out my artwork on my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com

ARTING AROUND and Art club week 2

Week 2 of my art club endeavor has come and gone.  After meeting the one student who signed up for this 8 week session and accessing her skills, having a conversation with the parents to learn their expectations,  I decided that we needed to scrap all those cute Pinterest art projects I have saved and instead cover basics and techniques.

 I pulled out the drawing pencils (from Darrel Tanks 5 pencil method of drawing) and watched the hour long video twice where he demonstrates his amazing pencil technique in shading a simple sphere.  Actually, there is nothing simple about shading a sphere and I was challenged by the exercise. The patience and control of stroke that it takes to smoothly blend the graphite to give the appearance of roundness and dimension.  Not using blender sticks or tortillons; not even a little smudge with a finger tip allowed.  Just layers of small tapered strokes working around the circle.  Transition from the 4H to the 2H and then back to the 4H. Repeating the whole process with the HB, 2B and finally adding just the smallest area of 4B pencil to the darkest part of the crescent shape that is furthest from the light source.

That's right I spent several hours shading spheres, cones and cylinders so that I could then demonstrate with more confidence and draw along with my students.  It takes patience and discipline to slow down and not jump into the dark areas too soon.

I was told by a very accomplished artist friend of mine that I would learn so much more about my art by teaching others than I would every learn on my own.  That is so very true.  What a joy it is for me to be in a place in my life that I can now start to give and hopefully inspire others to create art.

So this morning as I sit here, drinking my 2nd cup of coffee and contemplating my week almost ended, I realize just how much art has become a major focus of my time.  I had the Boulder City event last weekend that was  so exciting and equally exhausting.  First Friday event last night that I put so much energy into.  A week of sketching as I worked on some Christmas designs and then preparing and teaching this young lady some techniques that hopefully will help her achieve her goal of acceptance into the art academy.

Yes, I'm feeling tired from my First Friday late night arting (Did I just create a new word? As tired as I feel today it surely has to be a verb!) but oh so blessed!

A Chip off the Old Block

Titling this post a CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK is probably not as accurate as referring to it as a SLICE OFF THE OLD LOG but I thought it made a catchier title for today's blog post.  I actually picked up this slice of wood at a local art and craft supply store a number of months ago and it has been lying around my studio ever since.  My initial thought was to try my hand at some wood burning or what they call pyrography but hadn't yet taken the time to seriously get that project started.  I opened it up several days ago and have had this blank raw slice of wood sitting on my easel just crying for me to do something with it.  

Monday of this week turned out to be a perfect day to spend some extended time in the studio.  My initial intention was to paint several cowbells but as I walked in I had the strong urge to paint something on that slice of wood.  I selected a reference photo for inspiration and about an hour later this is the results.

I did find it a bit of a challenge to blend the acrylic paints on a surface that is soaking up the moisture so quickly but after several coats I was able to get the blended effect that I was looking for and am happy with the ending result. This was my first attempt at painting a landscape on a piece of wood but I don't think it will be my last. It was a easy composition and yet I feel it turned out rather striking.  I am especially pleased with how the light draws you into the center of composition, while in such a small area I am able to still able to maintain the feel of a dark shadowed forest along the sides. 

This photo was taken from my cell phone before a coat of varnish was applied.  We finished the piece off by installing a hanging wire and have already hung it on my gallery wall at City of the World all in the same day.  Not too shabby.  

This piece is available for purchase along with many of my other paintings that I have done.   I also do commission work and paint a lot of custom cowbells.  You can contact me if you are interested in this piece specifically or check out my website to see my other work at Julie Townsend Studio . Emailing me works good to at julie@julietownsendstudio.com.

Snowy Winter Scene painted with acrylic on a slice of wood

Paint Better- TAKE OFF YOUR ROSE COLORED GLASSES

I've started reading a book called "Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color" by Kevin Macpherson and so far it is an informative read. His book starts out with several pages about the equipment of a well prepared painter and even explains how to clean your brushes.  Very practical advice for any want to be en plein air painter.

 Mr. Macpherson refers to colors as "NOTES" which I found very interesting.  Chapter one is titled "Seeing Color Accurately"  He states that "You must train your eye to see and simplify."  A color note is the combination of the Hue (name of the color), + Value (degree of grayness) + Chroma (intensity or lack of) =COLOR NOTE.  On page 19, the author tells us that "Our preconceived thoughts limit our sensitivity to seeing."

I have often realized this with my own painting because preconceived mental images of simple things like rock, grass, trees and clouds all impact my paintings and cause struggles in my attempts to paint more convincing landscapes.  It is like I spent most of my life "not really seeing" the nature around me.  My natural tendency is to paint my landscapes too uniform and rigid.  I have often mentioned my struggle with painting something as simple as rocks looking like smooth river rocks and my bushes being soldiers at attention.

I was chatting about some of these points with my husband over our morning ritual of McDonald's coffee and he made the comment about looking at the colors out of focus.  I was pretty shocked at his intuition when I flipped the page to page 21 titled, "A Colorful World out of Focus".  Mr. Mcpaherson actually suggests taking off your glasses so that you are focused on the COLOR rather than the image.  He even talks about and gives examples of entire paintings he did without the aid of his glasses.  What a concept!

Light and Contrast

Taking private painting lessons would be a complete waste of money if I didn't apply the things I learn in each following painting.  In seven lessons, I have really only accomplished one painting to completion, but I have taken several pieces that I have completed independently to have them evaluated.  As I have blogged on previous occasions, my instructor, Lily Adamzcyk gives a brutally honest critique of each work.  Techniques have been analyzed such as how to paint specific elements like grass, water and never use white to brighten.  Probably the most important lesson I have tried to implement is that of light and contrast.  For a painting to have depth and interest you must have both. 

Keeping that in mind I began working on this large piece that was inspired by a fall hike that I took with my son and daughter-in-law near Reno.  The colors were just beginning to change and the birch trees nearly glowed in contrast to all of the darker pines.  The bright morning sunlight filtered across the trail whenever the foliage gave opportunity. 

Because of their prominence in the composition, you would first think that my main focus here is the grouping of the three birch trees near the trail but in actuality, it is the sunlight that is really the star here. I have attempted to show the trail and grass highlighted by the sunlight in a number of locations.  It is almost as if you have walked out of the darkness and into the light as the trail absorbs the energy and warmth of the morning rays.  This energy continues as the trail briefly disappears only to return brighter as you are prompted to continue up the mountain.

At my next lesson, I am sure that there are refining details that Lily will use to help me improve this piece but I think that she will immediately know that I have been listening.

24 x 36 Oil- "Morning Sunlight"